School of Arts & Sciences

Wide-angle view of a heavily mined landscape with a refinery or energy facility in the background.

Climate lecture series will call for ‘unprecedented action,’ 1.5 minutes at a time

With a nod to the stated goal of the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst effects of climate change, a new 90-second lecture series kicks off today to give faculty and students a platform to briefly share how their work addresses climate change, and what we can do to help.

A cartoon drawing of six people. Two are holding megaphones, one is holding a sign that says "Yes," one is holding a sign that says "No," and one is holding a cane.

Polarization can happen even when rational people listen to each other

Using computer models, philosopher Daniel J. Singer, political scientist William Berger, and colleagues found that divides over factual issues can stem from humans’ limited memory capacity rather than from one side or the other being irrational.

Osho seated with disciples kneeling before him, circa 1980s

Is it a cult, or a new religious movement?

Many religious movements started off as fringe groups, and many modern-day cults have no religious doctrine. Why are cults and new religious movements conflated, and what makes them different?

Student standing next to signs for 2019 and 2020

‘School year’s resolutions’

Here, a collection of Penn faculty and students share some of their goals for the 2019-20 academic year, plus a quote that's keeping them motivated.

A class of adults sitting at long tables working on laptops

A cybersecurity boot camp to grow Philadelphia’s digital workforce

The College of Liberal and Professional Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science are now offering cybersecurity and coding boot camps on campus.

A sculpture of a female figure and the feet of another sculpture of two figures as they are being lowered onto a pipe while one construction worker holds a rope and another reaches up.

Two monumental sculptures arrive on campus

On loan for 99 years, one sculpture is between Franklin Field and The Palestra, the other next to the main library.

Four people in brightly colored clothing standing in a white hallway.

Using a matching game to study the language of conversations

Penn undergrads Lilian Zhang and Kassidy Houston, and University of Chicago student Benjamin Stallworth, interned in the lab of cognitive psychologist Delphine Dahan doing work to better understand what subconsciously happens when people converse.

Student standing in front of plaque that says U.S. Department of Justice Washington, and flanked by two flags.

Justice served: A summer at the Department of Justice

Senior political science major Jordan Andrews from Detroit is a summer intern at the U.S. Department of Justice Consumer Protection Branch. She is working on cases involving identity theft, opioid abuse, and many types of fraud, while learning about the law and exploring Washington, D.C

A group of people looking at photos on a table

How Penn is advancing language learning inside—and out of—the classroom

This summer, the Center for East Asian Studies and the Department of East Asian Language and Civilizations welcomed 15 teachers from around the country to learn the latest in critical language teaching.

Six people standing in a parking lot looking at a colorful mural on the wall of a building.

Art history on foot: A class tour of public works of art

A summer course in history of art took students to the streets of Philadelphia to view and discuss murals, sculptures, and other public artworks.

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